Letter to Congressional Leaders Transmitting an Outline of the 2001 Legislative Agenda for International Trade

Dear __________:

I am pleased to provide you with an outline of my 2001 legislative agenda for international trade. I look forward to working closely with you to enact it this year.

The trade agenda reflects my strong commitment to open markets around the world for the benefit of American workers, farmers, and businesses. I also am committed to open markets to provide lower prices and greater choices for U.S. consumers and industries. Open trade fuels the engine of economic growth that creates new jobs and new income in the United States and around the world.

We have no time to waste in reasserting America's leadership on trade. The President has not had trade negotiating authority since it expired in 1994. We can no longer afford to sit still while our trading partners move ahead without us.

For that reason, I have placed the enactment of U.S. Trade Promotion Authority at the top of my trade legislative agenda. U.S. Trade Promotion Authority tells the world that the President and the Congress are united at the negotiating table in seeking to strike the best possible deals for our country. I am committed to working with the Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to rebuild the consensus needed to allow America to reassert its leadership in the trade arena. I hope the enclosed framework for U.S. Trade Promotion Authority will help us redouble our efforts to secure the benefits of expanded trade for the American people.

I hope you also will join me in moving the other important components of my trade legislative agenda to enactment this session as well.

Sincerely,

GEORGE W. BUSH